Truth or Dare, Sweetling?
by Niphuria
Summary: Alice returns to Wonderland hoping that the Mad Hatter returns her feelings. Will an intimate and daring game they play reveal the answer?


I don't own Alice in Wonderland or any of its characters. This is my second attempt at a story exploring the romantic, sensual, and erotic side of Alice and Hatter's love. Rated M.

"You didn't forget me..."

"No," Alice whispered, "I never forgot you. How could I? I...I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Hatter's eyes were the brightest emerald green she had ever seen them. "But...how did you come back? And did you come back for..." He stopped speaking, casting his eyes to the floor of his home. He shuffled his large feet nervously, suddenly wishing his shoes were not so scuffed and dirty.

Alice was nervous, too. She knew that Hatter had feelings for her, but she didn't know exactly what those feelings were. She knew he was capable of deep friendship and even deeper loyalty and devotion. But was he capable of love? The kind of love she craved from him even before she had left him three months ago?

"I drank most of the Jabberwocky's blood to go back," she admitted, "so I didn't know if I could return no matter how much I may have wished to. There was so little left... But night after night..."

"Nights?" Hatter raised his emerald eyes to hers. A small smile tugged at one corner of his lush mouth.

Alice cleared her throat and fixed her attention to his coat buttons. Almost of their own volition her hands placed themselves on his chest and she fiddled with the top button of his worn coat..

"Yes, Hatter; nights. I thought of you every moment of every day. I dreamt of you every night. And then I knew, deep inside, that I had made a terrible mistake. But I didn't know if that was enough."

She unfastened the top button and then quickly the second. She gently placed her hands on his shirt, reveling in the warmth of the pale skin beneath. She still couldn't meet his eyes. She had no idea that they were shining even brighter than before. Shining with hope.

Hatter covered her hands gently with one of his. With the other he tilted her chin upwards so he could study her face. Her cornflower blue eyes were also shimmering... with tears?

"Sweetling, tell me. Go on." He gently stroked her chin with his calloused thumb. "Don't be afraid. Not of me. Never of me." His voice was so soft that when she remained silent he didn't know if she had heard him.

Alice's hands began to tremble and he pressed them more firmly onto his chest, silently encouraging her. She drew a deep breath and found a bit more courage. He had called her 'sweetling!'

"One day I knew that I had left something unfinished. Unfinished and incomplete. I thought I had left here with my head and heart and soul intact. But I hadn't."

Hatter dared to stroke her bottom lip now. Heart? Could she truly...possibly...feel for him even a fraction of what he felt for her? Hope began to flood over him but he resolutely kept it in check. She was so lovely and special in her own right A lady in her world. A cultured lady, but also one who grew up to be the Champion of Wonderland. How could she love a freakish lunatic like him? And yet...

"Please, sweetling, tell me." His voice quavered as her hands, still trembling, undid another coat button to feel more of his body.

"Hatter..." she finally looked into his eyes, "have you ever loved? Have you ever loved a woman? Do you even know what I'm speaking of?"

Ah, so that was the problem. She didn't know the intricacies of Wonderland. She didn't know if there were such things as love and marriage and things such as there obviously were in her world. Moreover, as a half- maddened man, she didn't know if **he** knew of them, either.

"Sweetling, the White Queen and I were once lovers. We had relations in the manner you are asking of."

Alice gasped and pulled back from him involuntarily. Hatter was suddenly frightened. He couldn't lose her now, not when it seemed he was so close to winning her!

"Alice, love, sweetling, cricket, please listen to me." He pulled her against him and kissed the top of her head, then her forehead. "I am not inexperienced, nor am I incapable of love. The Queen and I loved in a certain way, but in the past. But she could see that I truly loved someone else now. I couldn't help myself. And do you know what she said next?"

Alice swallowed hard to try and stem the fear in her from being betrayed by her voice.

"No."

"She said that she understood. She said that I had found the one my soul has been waiting for and that she was happy for me. And she meant it! But then you went away. And I stood there and couldn't stop you. I was too much of a coward to tell you...to tell you..." and his voice broke. He couldn't lapse into madness now, too much was at stake! You have to remain sane right now, he told himself frantically. You have to, you have to do this right...

Alice hoped, prayed, that he was trying to say that he loved **her**, but she couldn't yet ask. She was still too frightened of the possibility of rejection, as gentle as it might be.

"Mally?" she whispered.

Hatter was taken aback. He pushed her back slightly and gazed quizzically into her face.

"What?!"

"I know you two are close. And in this place, maybe differing species..."

"**What?!**" His eyes began to turn orange and the diamond pattern around his eyes dim; not a good sign. "**You think that I**..."

Alice's body took over from her mind. She launched herself against him, staggering him backwards against the large reading chair. Her lips frantically found his and she kissed him over and over, her tears spilling onto his face and neck. Her hands scrabbled into his hair, knocking his hat off as her fingers tangled into the thick, unruly curls. Propriety be damned! She had come back for him and she had to make him understand that!

"I came back because I was not complete! I came back because I love you, Tarrant Hightopp! With my whole heart and mind and body. With my entire soul! I had to come back and see if...see if you felt the same! It was enough that the tiny amount of Jabberwocky blood left in the vial brought me back here! But I didn't know what I would find! Mally never seemed to like me and she was always with you and I didn't know if...if..." and she could say no more. She released him and stepped back, but tripped over one of his feet and fell to the floor, striking her head painfully against it.

Tarrant was instantly hovering over her, his eyes emerald again and streaming tears.

"Sweetling? Are you all right? Alice?" His look was agonized.

Alice tried to speak but the pain stabbing through her head caused her to lose consciousness.

"Shhhh...let her sleep. She'll be all right, Hatter."

Alice vaguely heard the voice of the March hare.

"She is not concussed. She'll be fine."

"This is all my fault!" Hatter cried out. "I love her and if she's hurt..."

"I..." Alice tried to speak but her voice was only a croaking whisper.

Hatter was instantly at her side on the bed. He quickly flung off his coat and lay beside her and gently stroked her forehead.

"Are you all right? Can you hear me?"

She tried again to speak, failed, then simply nodded. The throbbing pain returned and an involuntary cry escaped her lips.

"I'll go and fetch the yellow rose herb," said the March Hare. "And by the way, welcome back, Alice!" And he hopped rapidly out of the room.

"I meant it, Alice, my sweetling, I love you!" the Hatter whispered frantically, caressing her forehead with trembling fingers. The herbal tea was suddenly in his hands and he eased her slightly upright with one arm and held the cup to her lips. "Please, my heart, drink this. I know it will taste rather foul, not like one of my fine teas, but you have to drink it anyway. I mean, if you want to heal and feel better and..."

"Hatter!" Alice whispered frantically.

"I'm fine!" he said, though his fingers were trembling and his voice was strained.

Alice did her best to obey. She managed to choke down some of the foul-tasting concoction. When some droplets missed her mouth and slid down her chin the Hatter moved closer and gently kissed them away. It tickled her and Alice couldn't help but giggle, even though the pain flashed anew in her head.

"You...you love me? Really?" she managed at last to whisper.

"Completely and obsessively and utterly and slavishly. But you've always known, haven't you?" he whispered. "Haven't you? Since the first time you came here?"

"I...I think I did." She was beginning to feel better. "Help me," she added, and he knew she wanted to sit completely upright. "But now I'm all grown up and thought it may have been just my child's fancy."

"No, my dear sweetling, it was not."

"But the White Queen..."

Hatter winced. "Alice, I loved her, but I wasn't in love with her, nor was she with me. As a matter of fact, she has a suitor who seems to be her true love from the Far Lands. The love she bears for me is the same I bear for her. Care and friendship. Only that."

Suddenly Alice realized the pain in her head was gone. She wonderingly touched her head. "How...?"

Hatter sighed in relief. "McTwisp was right. You were not seriously hurt. In such cases the herb works very quickly."

She smiled at him. "Hatter, I do believe this is the longest 'sane' conversation we have ever had!"

He smiled back. "Well, I'm only half mad, you know. But for you I am completely mad. You've just joined me in my madness so that we both seem sane to the other." And he grinned, the endearing gap between his teeth causing her to smile even wider.

"I suppose so. But it is a wonderful madness!"

"Yes," he murmured lovingly, "it is, isn't it? I have a most wonderful idea. Let's go have dinner and tea and then play a little game, hey?"

During dinner and tea Alice got reacquainted with her old friends. She discovered that Mally did indeed like her well enough but had wanted Tarrant to have his heart remain intact. When Alice had left she was furious with her, but then Tarrant had explained that he had failed to tell Alice of his love. Mally couldn't very well blame her for that, now, could she? So she ended up scolding the hapless and morose Hatter for weeks.

"She was horrible, the little miscreant!" Hatter cried, "she tormented me night and day! Day and night! Night and night and day and day!"

"You deserved it, you coward! When have you ever backed down from anything?" cried Mally "All you had to do was say a few words!"

"Well," McTwisp chuckled, "you never did say them to me, did you? I had to pry them from you!"

Mally blushed so furiously beneath her fur that Hatter and Alice stared at them, mouths agape.

"Yes, we are in love," McTwisp said. "And it took her long enough to admit it!"

"That...that's wonderful!" Alice cried, leaping to her feet and rushing over to them to plant kisses on each forehead. "I'm so happy!"

"Happy, indifferent, angry, who cares?" Hatter blurted out. "They were even more foolish than I, so I say they deserve every bit of their prior angst."

"Perhaps," McTwisp said with a grin and a gleam in his eyes, "but at least we resolved it without the drama you two have put on!"

"Drama?" the Hatter spluttered. "You haven't even conceived of the beginning of ours. And it **will** begin. Just as soon as you two get out of here!" He hurled his teacup at them, narrowly missing Alice as she was rushing back to him. "I'm so sorry, sweetling! If I had hit you..."

"You would owe me a huge favour," Alice replied with a smirk. "Any favour of my choosing."

"Er...yes, yes I would, wouldn't I?" he replied, but she had succeeded in unsettling him, but in a good way. His insides fluttered with nervousness and anticipation.

McTwist and Mally fled. Hatter took the opportunity to pull Alice onto his lap. "So, sweetling, what sort of game would you like to play?" He traced a finger down her neck to the top of her cleavage. There it lingered, causing Alice to feel an almost scorching sensation. It was scandalous, of course, but...

"Ah...you suggested a game. I thought that you had a particular one in mind," she replied. She sighed in relief. Yes, go with that. Hatter's grin and his stroking fingertip was beginning to unsettle her and put thoughts into her mind that she wasn't sure she was ready for. Just yet. Or was she?

"Very well, I do have one in mind. Shall we play here on the table, in the garden by the flowers, or inside?"

"Well, if we go inside, can we do it in front of the fireplace?" she asked, then blushed at the inadvertent double meaning of her words.

"My, my, I do believe you are blushing, my sweet." He sounded calm, but in truth his insides were all awhirl. Oh, he knew what he wanted to do to her and with her, but how to go about it? He was the man here, and she was the lovely lady. As the man it was his duty to make things go right. He did not want to disappoint her. No, not her. Never, ever her.

Dusk was just beginning to fall. "Tarrant," she breathed against his neck, stroking his nape with gentle fingers and sending shivers up and down his spine.

"Yes, my dear?" He shivered deliciously and teased his finger a little deeper into her bodice.

"Hmmm?" she asked.

"You said my name," he whispered back.

Alice looked up at him, her pupils wide in her blue eyes and her long blonde curls falling behind her shoulders. "Did I?"

"You did," he said. "Dare I guess why?"

"Please. Please do dare."

"Splendid! Because that's the game I want to play with you."

"Pardon?" Alice asked, her eyes narrowing quizzically.

"Truth or Dare. That is what it is called, is it not?"

"Ah, yes. Truth or Dare. What an interesting choice," she mused. "What a positively 'mad' choice!"

Hatter grinned and tipped her backwards, forcing Alice to wrap her arms around his neck for support. "You have one chance, sweetling, to back out of this game. Just one. Are you absolutely certain you want to play? I will be merciless, I will be both selfless and selfish, and I will grant no reprieve. Unless, of course, there comes a point where you are frightened. I draw the line there, my love. I **never** want you to be frightened of me. Never. Nervousness is acceptable, but not fear. Never fear."

His heart nearly skipped a beat when Alice licked her lips and moved her upper body slightly closer to his, plunging his finger deeper into the sweet valley between her breasts. Then she pulled herself upright, keeping her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Let's play," she said.

He carried her into his cabin that way, her legs wrapped around him. He cupped her buttocks thru her skirt. When he squeezed them she gasped. "Hatter!"

"Hmmm?" he asked, feigning innocence.

"We haven't begun the game yet!"

"Haven't we? Oh, shame upon me, sweetling, shame upon me!" But, of course, he wasn't shamed at all.

But Alice got a little payback satisfaction as he lowered her to the plush rug before the fire. As he gently lay her down she allowed one of her hands to brush against his groin, causing him to start in surprise. Seeing him nonplussed made her laugh.

"My dear Hatter, I do believe you are discombobulated! Discomfited! Disconcerted! But dare I also add 'delighted?'"

"You may," he said, his voice husky. "But be careful, sweetling, you are not only playing with madness, you are playing with fire."

His eyes took on an emerald and golden hue at the same time. Alice smiled a cryptic smile and felt her own cornflower blue eyes warmly, yet boldly, challenge his.

"I am not unaccustomed to fire, nor madness, my lovely Hatter."

"Hmmm...lovely? No-one has ever called me that. Mad, lunatic, freakish, but never lovely."

"Then they are either blind or stupid. But I don't care. I have you, not anyone else." Alice's voice suddenly took on a possessive edge that Hatter found he liked. "And it had better stay that way," she added, her blue eyes taking on a sudden harsh glint.

For a moment Hatter was speechless, mentally drowning in the happiness her words gave him. He had longed to hear such things from her. He wanted, no, 'needed' her to love him. He needed her to accept him just the way he was, just as he accepted her and her Otherworldness. All the good with all the bad, the good with the evil, she had once said, and he completely agreed and accepted that.

"Yes, sweetling. You'll have me for as long as you want me."

"Truth or dare?" she asked.

"Truth," he whispered, kneeling beside her.

"Why would you say such a thing? Why do you doubt me?"

He gulped. "I...because I still cannot believe you are real. That **this** is real. That you've come back and that you've come back for...for me. For the Mad Hatter. Wonderland's resident lunatic." The tiny diamond pattern on his lower eyelids glistened.

Alice stared deeply into his eyes, loving him so very much. So very completely. She gave him a tender smile and gently cupped his face between her palms. "Well, it is true and it is real. And it will remain that way. Please trust me in this. Truth or dare?" She withdrew her hands.

Hatter softly tutted and wagged a finger at her even though his eyes misted in joy. "You cannot take two turns in a row, sweetling."

"I can and I will. I want to lighten the mood now. Besides, I never said that I had officially begun the game now, had I?"

"Tricky, tricky little butterfly," he whispered and smiled. "Dare."

Alice sat up and took a deep breath to steel her nerves. "I dare you to take me in your arms and kiss me as if there were no tomorrow."

"Ah, bold right away, I see. I'll admit that I didn't see this coming. But kissing you, sweetling, any way you like is entirely my pleasure." And even though he was on his knees, he managed to make a courtly bow. He swept off his hat, leaving his hair completely hat-mussed, pressed it to his chest, closed his eyes and bowed deeply. Then he tossed the hat aside and took her in his arms, pressing her tightly against him. The sensual heat between them rose. Their lips were now just barely apart.

"Sweetling, my darling, my Alice, my eternal love," he whispered. Then he kissed her. Alice closed her eyes and let the sensation of his soft lips brushing against hers sweep her into a dark, warm, and safe place; a place she never wanted to leave. Then Tarrant changed the angle of his kiss slightly and pressed his lips to hers a little harder, persuading them to part. She parted them willingly and his tongue invaded her mouth, tentatively at first, then more boldly as she responded in kind. Their tongues performed a sensual dance and his hands at the small of her back began to press her even more tightly to him. Then one hand slid down a little lower and he pressed her pelvis against his. She sighed and he groaned into her mouth. Oh, he was good! Too good, she soon thought, feeling arousal already assailing her body. How could he do this so quickly with just a kiss and an embrace?

Alice gasped and pulled back, panting. Her nipples were already embarrassingly hard and she felt the beginnings of an embarrassing moisture between her thighs. Hatter smiled knowingly, allowing her to only pull her torso back from him, but not her pelvis.

"Have I pleased my lady-love? Have I well enough fulfilled her dare?" he asked, knowing full well that he had.

Alice quickly recovered her poise and managed to smirk. "I don't have to answer that, Mr. Hightopp. We are in the midst of a game, are we not? I only have to tell you things that fall within the scope of the game."

"Hmmm..." he mused, smiling. "Clever again. You never cease to amaze and amuse me, sweetling." He fluffed his unruly curls into some semblance of order and then stroked his chin. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Very well. When did you first find me...er...desirable?"

Alice smiled and most definitely did not need to search her memory. "I'd always cared deeply for you, but I realized that I also found you desirable when you asked me if you were well and truly mad. You looked so relieved and vulnerable and touched all at the same time when I assured you that all the best people are. I realised then, when you smiled at me, that I not only loved you, but desired to...to be with you." She blushed furiously and lowered her gaze.

Hatter was speechless. Then? He had felt so pathetic and useless to her. She had reassured him and gently wiped his tears away. It had been then that she must have realised that, even if she did not know if was capable of the type of love she needed, that he still was capable of loving.

"Hatter?"

"I...thank you," he choked out. "That is not what I was expecting, but it was far better than I could have hoped."

"Truth or dare?" he asked her quickly, hoping she wouldn't realise he had just taken a second turn. Well, even if she did, she was obviously wanting to allay any concerns he had quickly.

"Truth."

Alice cocked her head in anticipation of what he may ask of her. She was feeling even more heat emanating from the close proximity of their bodies and with every breath she took she could feel the bulge against her belly that betrayed his desire. It was wonderful, yet disconcerting.

"Have you ever had a lover?"

She was caught off guard. "I...I haven't. Ever. In the Otherworld such things are..well...simply not done until a young woman is married. Besides...I've never been in love."

"I...I see..." he murmured. He was so honoured he didn't know what to say! She had chosen him to love and be her first! He suddenly realised that he would have to be very tender and careful with her. He didn't want to frighten her or hurt her. Ever.

"Truth or dare?" She now took her turn.

"Truth," he said.

"Does that bother you?" she asked. "That I...I may; **may, **mind you, give you my virtue even though we aren't...aren't...married?"

"You love me! You've chosen me! I'm honoured. Touched and honoured. Sweetling, my darling little Alice with so very much muchness, if I have any say in the matter marriage will not be far off for either of us." His eyes misted with happiness. For neither of them would age here and, barring horrible misfortune, they would be together forever. And if she died...well, he would follow her at once. He would follow her anywhere, even into Death.

"Tarrant, I'm so relieved that you feel that way," she whispered. "My old life and all its ways no longer matter. There is just you and I now. And, I hope, forever more."

He didn't know whether to cry, laugh in hysteria, or find his hat. Instead he reigned in all three possibilities and merely gave her a wide, misty-eyed smile, his eyes flashing golden for only an instant before the deep emerald returned.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Ah, now you play with fire, sweetling." He gave her no chance to dwell on his warning, however. "I dare you to allow me to kiss those delectable breasts of yours."

Alice's eyes widened. To be so forward? And so quickly? But he was as aroused as she. He had been patient, reigning in his passion and need for her. And that need and desire was growing ever more insistent in them both.

"As you wish," she said. She began to nervously untie her bodice. Apparently it wasn't fast enough for him because Tarrant brushed her hands aside impatiently and ripped it open to her waist, completely destroying it and baring her upper body to him completely. Alice gasped as he plunged one hand into her hair and pulled her slightly backwards and attacked her bared flesh. He rained kisses upon her chest and her breasts, all around and over them, moaning and sighing as he did so. Then he focused on one breast and drew her nipple into his mouth, sucking, licking, and gently biting it.

Alice gasped and choked out, "Hatter, that's hardly just kissing them!"

"It's **my** way of kissing them, sweet love, it's **my** way..." And he continued, undaunted, and rather encouraged by her moans and gasps of pure bliss. That he could give her such pleasure spurred him on. He went to her other breast and teased that nipple into pebble-like hardness as well. He then gently lowered her onto her back and gently ran his palms over her engorged and hyper-sensitive nipples.

"Gorgeous, positively gorgeous, sweetling," he murmured. He bent back down and began to knead one breast while kissing the other.

Alice grew more and more moist between her thighs, the sensation both unnerving and exciting her at the same time.

"Hatter!" He didn't hear her. "Tarrant!"

He stopped and looked into her dilated eyes. "Hmmm?"

"I'd say it is my turn now!" she panted, her passion easily read. He grinned but reluctantly sat up, giving one nipple a last quick lick as he did so.

"Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Ah, good! I dare you, Hatter dear, to stand up and remove every bit of your clothing for me. And I want you to do it slowly. I want you to allow me to savour every moment." Her smile was seductive, victorious, and smug.

Hatter flushed. He had unsettled her, but she was unsettling him even more. What a surprise she was!

"Remind me to never, ever, underestimate you again, sweetling."

"Oh, no. I want you to underestimate me," she said, stroking her own breasts to tease him. His eyes flashed as she ran her thumbs over her hardened nipples. "I want to be able to tip the famous Mad Hatter completely off balance once in a while. Now, disrobe!"

Alice then pulled what remained of her blouse over her breasts and fixed her eyes on him expectantly. Hatter gulped loudly and began with his shoes. Being naked save for shoes and socks would look quite silly, he knew. He removed them and tossed them aside, one shoe striking something but neither cared what. Then he removed his coat, slowly, as she had commanded. Then his shirt. But his fingers trembled and he had trouble with the buttons. Never had they been so difficult to undo!

"Do you need help?" Alice asked softly.

"Perhaps, but do not, sweetling. I am here to do **your** bidding. And your bidding was for me to allow you to watch me disrobe."

"Good. I'm loving this," she replied, a mischevious smile playing across her lips.

He finally managed to open his shirt. He slowly dropped it to the floor. When he mustered the courage to meet Alice's eyes she was smiling at him appreciatively. "What a gorgeous body you have, my love. Do go on!"

Gorgeous? Even with his scars? He never would have thought she could find him so. But he saw the truth in her eyes. Nevertheless, he couldn't maintain eye contact with her. He began to work at the buttons on his trousers. His manhood was so engorged that he had even greater difficulty with the buttons. When he finally undid them all and allowed his trousers and underwear to puddle around his ankles he heard her gasp.

He gazed at her quizzically "You are so...huge!" she said, sounding impressed but also intimidated. "I...I've never been with a man and...I hope I can...accommodate you. I couldn't bear to disappoint you, Tarrant."

"That is impossible, my love. You could never disappoint me. I promise I'll be gentle and give you all the time you need to adjust to me."

Alice rapidly blinked her eyes several times to help clear her muddled head. "Go on."

He stepped out of his clothing and moved closer, naked as the day he was born. She studied him long and intently, smiling the entire time. "You are so beautiful," she murmured. "You are!"

He knelt and closed his eyes as she ran her hands tenderly over his face, arms, chest, and then his thighs. She brushed and teased maddeningly close to his quivering manhood, but didn't touch it. He knew that part would have to wait. But not for long. He clasped her hands in his to stop her before he lost complete control of himself.

"Truth or dare?"

She licked her lips, as they had gone suddenly dry.

"Alice, my sweetling, allow me." Hatter leaned forward and snaked his tongue slowly and sensually over her lips. "Better?"

"Cad," she said without heat. He chuckled.

"Ummm...truth," she said, and both knew she had just chickened out of the risk of further intimate contact for the moment.

But she had underestimated **him** this time. "Truth, eh? Very well. Will you allow me to touch and kiss you in your most...ah...intimate place?"

Her eyes went very wide. "Hatter! That is a dare!"

"Not the way I phrased it, sweetling. It is now the same. What say you?"

Several long moments of silence passed. Alice swallowed uncomfortably and dropped her gaze, her lips quivering. Hatter wondered if he had pushed her too far too fast. Well, he was not going to press her. Not if she was frightened.

"Are you afraid?" he at last asked gently. "I'll understand if you are. I can wait for as long as you need, be it a day or a month, or even longer." And he meant it. He would not frighten her away. Not at any cost.

Alice took a deep breath and raised her eyes to his. "I am afraid, but just a little. Yes. Yes, I'll allow you to do that if that is your desire."

He smiled in purest joy. "It is, sweetling, it is. And soon it will be yours as well; I promise."

Tarrant gently began to work her skirt down over her hips. Alice suddenly felt weakness sweep over her so strongly that she sank back onto the rug, limp and helpless.

"Are you all right? What happened?" he whispered against her lips, clearly concerned.

"You...you just made me go all weak. I'm sorry."

He smiled in understanding and utter joy. "Hush...don't worry. I'll be gentle, sweetling." He carefully removed the rest of her clothing and beheld her in her glorious nakedness for the first time. He was so overcome that he couldn't speak for quite some time. He simply stared at her, enthralled at her beauty. So exquisite, so ethereal, so...

"What...why...don't look at me like that!" Alice suddenly gasped, frantically trying to cover her nakedness.

His eyes flew to her face. "Why not? You are so beautiful that I can't help it."

"Oh...I thought...never mind."

"You thought what, dearest Alice?"

"That...that I am not...not...beautiful enough for you."

"Little fool," he murmured, bending forward and kissing her. "I should be the worried one, not you. You are beauty personified; in every way."

Alice sighed and relaxed. She had tried to sit up but had failed, so she remained on her back on the plush rug. The fire burned pleasantly and cast a lovely glow over the both of them with just the right amount of warmth.

Tarrant began carefully. He first gently and slowly stroked and kissed her belly. He felt her muscles tighten in both anticipation and nervousness. When he felt the nervousness subside he began to slowly move lower. His hands found her thighs and gently stroked them, then carefully parted them. His eyes sought hers.

Her eyes were closed, but her features did not reveal fear. He smiled in relief and carefully continued. He kissed and laved his tongue over her belly and navel while his thumbs barely brushed the sides of her soft, furry mound. She tensed and he stopped. She then relaxed and he continued. He stroked the sides of her sex gently until he heard her sigh in pleasure. He smiled and kissed the top of her sex, still stroking her outer lips.

Alice was so aroused and yet so nervous that she couldn't process all that he was doing to her. It was just so...wonderful! She had never dreamed how good such things could feel! Had her parents felt this when they loved? Oh, they must have! She then felt Tarrant's knuckles brush over the soft hair that barely concealed her most intimate parts. One of them either accidentally or purposely grazed her most tender and sensitive nub of flesh and she gasped and flinched.

Hatter grasped her hips but stopped moving. "Are you all right, sweetling?"

"Yes," she gasped. "Oh, yes!"

"May I continue?"

"Yes, oh please do!" She was still nervous, but she wanted more of the sweet pleasure he was giving her. It was so very sweet, so very sensual, so very wondrous and beyond anything she could ever have imagined! Only her Tarrant could make her feel thus, she knew. She was now doubly glad she had refused all suitors and returned to him. The only man she could ever truly love.

Tarrant did understand. She was still a little frightened, but she wanted to go on. She was accepting him! He was the one giving her such wondrous pleasure! And wonder of all possible wonders, she wanted more! Well, he would give it to her. Oh, yes, he would give her more!

He gazed at her wetness and finally could resist no longer. He slid his hands beneath her backside and raised her hips to his mouth. He flicked his tongue into her, snaking it up and down, over her tiny nub and then inside her, licking all the moisture he could.

"You taste wonderful, sweetling, like yourself, and like a woman should. But then, there is no-one remotely like you."

Alice was gasping and moaning and barely heard him. He resumed his ministrations. The more he tasted and teased her, the more aroused he became himself. He desperately hoped that he could hold himself back until he had brought her to her ultimate pleasure several times before entering her sweet body at last.

The first. Alice arched her back and cried out in pure bliss. "Oh, Tarrant!" He waited a moment, knowing that after a first orgasm the body was at its most sensitive. Then he barely brushed and flicked his tongue over her tiny pink nub once more and she gasped and bucked and came again. He held her hips firmly and waited once more. Then he snaked his tongue around her incredibly sensitive little nub once more and teased her mercilessly. But he didn't want her to come again. Not just yet.

"Oh, Tarrant, please! Please!" she begged him.

"Not just yet, sweetling, trust me," he said softly and seductively. "Be patient."

"But I cannot!"

"You'll have to be. You don't have a choice, do you?" He smiled and returned to his loving teasing.

Alice had regained her strength. Sort of. She was weakened by the first orgasms in her life but she could now move her limbs. She didn't have a choice, he said? She'd show him! She mustered all of her strength and pushed Tarrant over. Startled completely, he fell onto his side and Alice pushed him onto his back.

"What the deuce do you...ooooohhh...aaaahhhh...you play quite unfairly, my sweetling!" he gasped as she took his manhood into her mouth and began to suck and tease it. He was completely helpless to stop her as she began her sweet torment of him. He was afraid of climaxing, though, if she continued...then a miracle rescued him. She circled the base of his organ with her thumb and forefinger and squeezed. It hurt a little, but not too much. She probably didn't reallise just what she had done, but it gave him great help in self control, and she returned her mouth to his organ.

Alice didn't know what to do to please a man, but she was discovering that it was...instinctual. Somehow she just knew. And if his moans and sighs were any indication then she was doing quite well indeed! She laved her tongue up and down the shaft as he moaned and clasped the rug with helplessly scrabbling fingers. Then she licked and teased his scrotum, bringing a new sensation and one that threatened his barely reigned in desire to plunge deep into her and...

"Hatter," Alice said. "Tarrant!"

He opened his eyes from the heavenly mist he had been descending into. "I'm...I'm fine," he gasped, reigning in the control that she had sensed slipping away from him.

"Good. Now I can continue..."

And she did. She tasted every inch of him. Laved his scrotum and his shaft. Then she teased the very top of him with the tip of her tongue and then took him into her mouth once more. Just as he thought he'd lose his mind completely she stopped and squeezed the base of his shaft again, nervously this time.

"Are you ready to...to make love to me completely?" she asked, her eyes wide and nervous, yet determined and excited.

"What a mad question, my dear," he said. "What a wondrously mad question!" He positioned himself over her. "The real question is, are **you** ready?"

"I...I think so." Then her mouth tightened in determination. "No, I know so. I am ready."

"I'll be gentle, sweetling," he whispered and kissed her, tasting himself on her mouth. The sudden realisation that she had tasted of him so intimately touched his heart. He was the luckiest man in Wonderland, Underland, Overland, Outer Lands...anywhere!

Alice parted her legs so he could ease himself between them. Gently he touched the tip of his shaft to her small but wet opening. He pushed gently. No progress. He pushed a little harder. Just a little progress. He tried again. She was so tight that he barely got a little more of the head inside. He was perspiring now and so was she.

"Tarrant, push!" Alice urged him.

"I refuse to hurt you!" he responded. "I'll take all night if I must so I won't hurt you."

"No," she said flatly. "No, that will not do. Not at all."

She grabbed his hips and gritted her teeth.

"Sweetling..."

And she pulled him downwards as she arched upwards. A piercing cry of pain came from her but she had done it. He was completely inside of her now. Her body was taut as a bowstring and covered with a sheen of perspiration.

"Well, we did it!" she said, her voice tight with pain, but proud nonetheless.

"You shouldn't have done that!" he scolded her. "Now I've hurt you!"

"No, no you haven't. Kiss me. Just don't move a muscle down there!"

He couldn't help but smile a little as he leaned down and kissed her trembling lips. "I wanted this to be so special and so perfect for you, sweet Alice. I wanted..."

"Shhh...it **is** special. It's special because we love each other. And I'm feeling better already. I'm beginning to stretch to accommodate you. Try moving now, but slowly."

Tarrant obeyed. There was no going back now, he supposed, and since she was loosening he may as well help her. He moved very slowly and carefully outward and then inward again. She was clutching his shoulders so hard he felt her nails dig into his flesh. But she was brave. Yes, she was brave, his Alice was.

"Keep going," she gasped, her voice still betraying pain.

He did. Gently. In and out. In and out. She began to sigh. In and out. She moaned.

"Faster! Harder!" she suddenly demanded. "I can take it!"

And she did take it. Tarrant took her with the full force of his pent-up passion now. He could no longer help himself and Alice was urging him on. He heard her cry out and felt her constrict around him and knew she was climaxing. His own control now hopelessly lost, he joined her in the ultimate bliss of love.

They gasped and panted in unison as he carefully pulled out of her and rolled her onto her side and pulled her into his body, embracing her tenderly. "Are you all right?"

"Never better," she said. Her face was pale but her eyes were sparkling and happy. "I love you, Tarrant Hightopp. With all my heart!"

Suddenly tears began to trail down his cheeks.

"Tarrant?" she asked, "is something wrong?"

"No," he replied, his voice quavering. "For the first time in memory, everything is perfect!"

Alice smiled and traced his tears with her fingertip. Then she pulled his head towards her and kissed them, gently licking and soothing them away.

"I know exactly what you mean," she whispered.

"Truth or dare?" he asked her, voice drugged with love and fatigue.

Alice quirked an eyebrow. "Dare."

"I dare you to stay with me. Forever."

"Done."

Well, I hope you liked it! This is only my second story and I am exploring the tender, romantic, and sensual side of Alice and Tarrant's love.

Any and all comments/criticisms and reviews are welcome!


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